Sheet feed guide



April 20, 1965 G. P. TAILLIE SHEET FEED GUIDE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 1, 1962 4 :IT'L- 1/ u w r 3 I 3 r M n a M 2 INVENTOR GORDON P. TAILL IE %W/yz.4o ATTORNEY FIG. 1

April 20, 1965 G. P. TAILLIE SHEET FEED GUIDE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMarch 1, 1962 A M WE WM 0 D R 0 G ATTORNEY April 20, 1965 G. P. TAILLIESHEET FEED GUIDE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 1. 1962 INVENTOR. GORDONP. TAILLIE A TTORNEV 3,179,407 SHEET FEED GUIDE Gordon P. Taillie,Rochester, N.Y., assignor to Xerox Corporation, Rochester, N.Y., acorporation of New York Filed Mar. 1, 1962, Ser. No. 176,528 3 Claims.(Cl. 27179) This invention relates to paper feed guides for use in asheet material conveyor system.

More specifically, the invention relates to an improved floating feedguide for positioning a sheet of paper relative to a gripper mechanismin a conveyor system and is shown as being utilized in an automaticXerographic reproducing machine.

In the process of Xerography, an electrostatic latent image of the copyto be reproduced is formed on a Xerographic plate, usually in the formof a rotating drum, and is developed with a toner material to form apowder image of the copy on the drum. The powder image is thentransferred to a sheet of support or transfer material, usually paper.

Thus, in some automatic Xerographic machines, it is necessary tomanually feed a sheet of paper into a conveyor system which carries thepaper into contact with the Xerographic drum, through a heat fuser andinto a discharge tray. The conveyor system contains a sheet papergripper mechanism which grips the end of the paperas it is inserted intothe machine by the operator and draws the paper through the conveyorflow path. At the end of each machine cycle, one of the grippermechanisms stops at the paper feed-in station in position to receiveanother sheet of paper and to start another machine cycle. The grippermechanism is so constructed that the paper must fit uniformly across itslength into a slot along the top of the gripper mechanism. If the papergripper stopped at precisely the correct position, the paper could befed into the machine and guided by a stationary guide plate into thepaper gripper. However, minor variations in the position of the papergripper results in improper gripping and positioning of the paper as itis fed into the machine. If the griper does not grip the paper uniformlyacross its front leadingedge then the gripper mechanism may move awaywithout carrying the paper into the machine or it may pull the paperinto the machine at an angle and not in proper registration with theXerographic drum or it may cause the paper to jam in the machineresulting in costly and time-consuming repairs. 7

In order to ensure proper feeding of paper into the gripper mechanism,it is necessary that the paper guide be in alignment with the opening inthe top of the gripper mechanism wherever the gripper mechanism stops,within predetermined allowable limits. Although the gripper mechanismdoes not stop at precisely the same point after each cycle, it does stopin a determinable maximum range of positions. Within this range, thepaper feed guide must be selfaligning with the opening in the grippermechanism.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to improve sheetfeed guide meanssothat the guide means will be in alignment with a sheetgripper mechanism,

wherever the sheet gripper mechanism may stop within a predeterminedrange.

It is a further object of this invention to improve sheet feed guidemeans so that the sheet gripper mechanism will align the guide meanswith the opening in the gripper mechanism.

It is a further object of this invention to improve sheet,

feed guide means so that an operator may insert a sheet of material intoa conveyor system with'one simple movement and insure that the sheet ofmaterial will be .in proper alignment with a sheet gripper mechanism.

Ice

It is a further object of this invention to improve sheet feed guidemeans so that they are self-aligning and require no manual adjustment bythe operator. These and other objects of the invention are attained bymeans of a guide plate that is freely suspended from the frame of theXerographic machine and has an arm in interference relationship with themovement of the sheet gripper mechanism. Thus, as the gripper mechanismapproaches the feed-in position, it contacts the guide plate arm andpositions the guide plate relative to the opening in the grippermechanism.

The invention is disclosed in the appended drawings, 7

in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a type of automatic Xerographicreproducing machine in which the present invention is particularlyadapted to utilization;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view, with covers partly removed, of a portion ofthe paper handling mechanism of the machineof FIG; 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged isometric view of the paper conveyor systemdisclosed in FIG. 2, and embodying the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the gripper mechanism of the machine shown inFIGS. 1, 2 and 3, with the gripper bars in a closed position;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the gripper mechanism shown in FIG. 4,with the gripper bars in a closed position;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the gripper mechanism of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the gripper mechanism shown in FIG. 4,with the gripper bars in an open position;

FIG. dis a sectional view of the gripper mechanism taken along line 88of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the paper feed guide mounted on the machine ofFIGS. 1 through 3; and

FIG. 10 is another embodiment of the paper feed guide shown, in FIG. 9.

The Xerographic apparatus comprises a Xerographic plate 20shaped in theform of a rotating cylindrical drum. The xerographic plate includes aphotoconductive layer of light receiving surface on a conductive backingand is positioned on a shaft 10 to rotate in the direction indicated bythe arrow to cause the drum surface sequentially to pass a plurality ofXerographic processing stations. For the purpose of the presentdisclosure, several Xero- Xerographic drum;

An exposure'station B, at which a light or radiation pattern of the copyto be reproduced is projected onto the drum surface to dissipate thedrum charge on the exposed areas thereof, and thereby form a latentelectrostatic image of the copy to be reproduced;

A developing station C, at which a xerographic developing materialincluding toner particles having an electrostatic charge opposite tothat of the electrostatic latent image are cascaded over the drumsurface, whereby the toner particles adhere to the electrostatic imageto form a xerographic powder image in the configuration to bereproduced;

A transfer station D, at which the Xerographic powdero a e3 light sourceto effect substantially complete discharge of 7 any residualelectrostatic charge thereon.

At charging station A, there is a corona discharge array 21 of one ormore discharge electrodes that extend transversely across the drumsurface and are energized from a high potential source. Chargingapparatus may be of the type disclosed in Vyverberg Patent No.2,836,725, issued May 27, 1958.

Next subsequent thereto in the path of motion of the xerographic drum isexposure station B, which contains an optical scanning or projectionmechanism generally designated 11. The projector consists of a lampLMP1, a reflector 12 and a series of lenses 22. A data processing cardcontaining an aperture, and referred to herein as the aperture card, isplaced in a carriage, (not shown) between the lamp LMPl and the lens 22.The aperture in the data processing card contains a microfilm 23containing an image of a copy to be reproduced. The lamp LMPll projectsthe image on the microfilm 23 through lens 22 onto a series of objectmirrors which reflect the image onto the surface of the xerographicdrum. A viewing plate 3 is provided whereby the image to be flashed onthe xerographic drum may be viewed prior to the operation of themachine. The aperture'card is arranged in a film holder and a movablecarriage which moves in a path traversing the optical path of the lenswhereby the subject image of the film is scanned in timed relation tothe movement of the light receiving surface of the xerographic drum anda light image corresponding to the subject image is transferred to thesurface of the xerographic drum. 7

Adjacent to the exposure station is a developing station in which thereis positioned a housing 31 containing a suitable two componentdeveloping medium. In this arrangement, a bucket-type conveyor 13 drivenby motor MOT is used to carry developing material to the upper part ofthe housing where it is cascaded down onto the xerographic drum.

As the developing material is cascaded over the xerographic drum,toner'particles are pulled away from the carrier component of thedeveloping material, by the electrostatic charge on the drum, and formpowder images of the copy being reproduced. The carrier components passoff the drum into the lower portion of the housing 31 for recycling. Aspowder images are formed, additional toner material may be supplied tothe developing material in proportion to the amount of toner depositedon the drumlsurface.

After passing developing station C, the xerographic drum rotates pastimage transfer station D. At the transfer station, a sheet feedingmechanism is adapted to feed sheets of transfer material, usually paper,successively to the xerographic drum in registration with the formedxerographic powder image on said drum.

In the embodiment shown, the conveyor system includes a pair of chains14 carrying one or more paper grippers 15 in a circuit between sheetfeeding stations 16 and a sheet delivery station 17. Actuating earns(see FIG. 3) are provided to activate the grippers to take hold of thefront edge of a sheet of support material at station 16, and to hold thesheet while traveling to the delivery station 17, and there to releasethe sheet for removal from the machine. The sheet of transfer materialis fed manually by an operator to paper gripper 15 and is forwarded bythe paper gripper into contact with the xerographic drum at imagetransfer station D.

The transfer of a xerographic powder image from the drum surface to thesupport material is effected by means of a corona transfer device 44located at or immediately after the point of contact of the supportmaterial and the xerographic drum. The corona transfer device issubstantially similar to the corona discharge device 21 that is employedat charging station A, in that it includes an array of one or morecorona discharge electrodes that are energized from a suitable highpotential chine.

source and extend transversely across the drum surface. In operation,the electrostatic field created by the corona discharge device iseffective to cause the transfer material to electrostatically adhere tothe drum surface, whereat the transfer material moves synchronously withthe drum surface in contact therewith. The electrostatic field is alsoeffective to attract the toner particles comprising the powder imagefrom the drum surface and causes them to adhere electrostatically to thesurface of the transfer material.

As the paper gripper is advanced by the chain conveyor, it strips thesheet of transfer material from the drum and transports it to a fixingdevice, such as heat fuser 45, where the xerographie powder imagespreviously transferred to the support surface are permanently fixedthereto. A series ofsuitable support rods 18 are provided to guide thetrailing edge of the sheet of support material in proper relation to theheat fuser. The heat fuser 45 contains electrical heating elements whichare connected to a suitable source of power (not shown). After fusing,the finished copy is discharged from the apparatus at sheet deliverystation 17.

After the image is transferred from the xerographic drum to the supportsurface, the xerographic drum rotates past cleaning station E to removeany residual charge and developing material that may remain on thexerographic drum. A corona precleaning device 51, similar to coronacharging device 21, is positioned to impose an electrostatic charge ofsuitable polarity on the drum and powder adhering thereto, to aid ineffecting removal of the powder from the drum surface. A rotatable brush52 is positioned to effect removal of this residual powder from the drumand a source of light, such as lamp LMP2 floods the drum surface withlight to cause dissipation of any residual electric charge remaining onthe drum. Any powder particles removed by brush 52 are collected in tank56 by means of exhaust blower 57.

The automatic xerographic machine is suitably enclosed in a housinggenerally designated 1 and contains a control panel designated 2. Tooperate the machine, the operator would stand facing feed-in station 16and press the appropriate switch to initiate operation of the ma- Asheet of transfer material is fed into feed-in station 16 initiatingoperation of the conveyor system and projector mechanism. The projectorscans the microfilm 23 and gripper bar 15 grips the sheet of transfermaterial and draws it into the machine to receive the powder image fromthe xerographic drum. The feed-in station 16 is more clearly seen inFIG. 2, and contains a suitable counter 9 for use in positioning thesheet of transfer material as it is being entered into the machine, anda guide plate 64 to guide the sheet material into the opening in thegripper mechanism.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the conveyor chains 14 are mounted on parallelpairs of sprockets 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50, which are mounted on sideframe members 60 and 61. Each gripper bar 15 is mounted on chains 14 andis carried in a continuous path around each of the sprockets back to theoriginal position. Mounted between the pair of sprockets 50 on a shaft53 is a paper guide roll 54. Paper guide roll 54 provides a supportsurface for the sheet of transfer material as it is carried aroundsprockets 56 by gripper mechanism 15.

Mounted on side frame 60 is a limit switch 4L8 which, when activated byan actuator 19 mounted on chain 14, stops the conveyor mechanism so thatgripper bar 15 is in position receive a sheet of transfer material.Limit switches 8LS and 9L8 are mountedon side frame 61 and also areactivated by actuator 19, mounted on chain 14. These switches 8LS and9L8 control the operation of the projector assembly so that thexerographic image on the drum surface is in timed relation to themovement of the paper conveyor system. A limit switch 51.8 is locatedbelow guide plate 65 and is positioned to be activated by the leadingedge of the sheet of paper inserted into the gripper mechanism. Theswitch SLS initiates operation of the conveyor drive system.

Although any suitable paper gripper may be used to grip the sheet oftransfer material, the paper grippers 15 are of the type disclosed incopending application, Serial No. 46,462, filed concurrently herewith onAugust 1, 1960, now Patent No. 3,071,370, in the name of Hunt et a1.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 4 through 8, inclusive, the paper gripper 15consists of a gripper bar housing in which a right-hand gripper bar 74and a left-hand gripper bar 75 are positioned within the housing tocoact with a portion of the housing to grip a sheet of transfermaterial.

The gripper bar housing includes a bottom panel 76 and a top panel 77held together in spaced parellel relation to each other as by screws 78threaded into center spacer 81, and end spacers 82 secured as by weldingto the bottom panel and top panel, respectively. a

The bottom apnel which is of a length to extend transversely between thetwo roller chains has up-turned end extensions 83 with suitableapertures formed therein to coincide with the pitch of the chainswhereby the bottom panel is adapted to be attached to the chains 14 bymeans of elongated chain pins 84 of the roller chains. The bottom panelwhich is substantially 'U-shaped has a longitudinal rear lip 85 (interms of the direction of chain travel) which is of a length greaterthan the length of the leading edge of a sheet of transfer material onwhich xerographic powder images are to be transferred.

The bottom panel has an aperture 80 in the center thereof to receive theactuator lever of limit switch 5LS when positioned thereover.

The right-hand gripper bar 74'and the left-hand gripper bar 75 areactuated by means of a right-hand lever 86 and a left-hand lever 87,respectively, each being pivotally secured in the gripper bar housing bya lever pivot pin 88 positioned in suitable apertures in the bottompanel 76 and secured thereto as by silver soldering. Each of the leverpivot pins 88 has a threaded aperture therein to receive a screw 78passing through the top panel.

The right-hand lever 86 which is pivotally supported near its center bythe lever pivot pin 88 on the right-hand side of the gripper assambly isalso pivotally secured near one end to the right-hand gripper bar by adowel pin 91 3 held in place by the top and bottom panels. The other endof this lever extends beyond the right-hand end of the gripper barhousing and is suitably formed to extend above the up-turned end of thebottom panel whereby it may be actuated by cam 25 to etfect movement ofthe right-hand gripper bar away from the turned-up lip of the bottompanel. I

The left-hand lever 87 which is pivotally supported near its center in asimilar manner to the right-hand lever by a lever pivot pin 88, is alsopivotally secured near one end to the left-hand gripper bar by aseconddowel 91. The other end of the left-hand lever extends beyond theleft-hand end of the gripper bar housing to be actuated by a cam 25 toeffect movement of the left-hand gripper bar away from the turned-up lipof the bottom panel.

The right-hand gripper bar and the left-hand gripper bar cooperate withthe lip of the bottom panel to grip a sheet of transfer materialinserted therebetween to enable the sheet of transfer material to betransported to the machine, these gripper bars being normally biasedtoward the lip of the bottom panel by means of a leaf spring 92 havingits center portion positioned between the spacer 81 and the frontturned-up edge of the bottom panel, one end of the spring contacting theleft-hand lever to bias the gripper bars against the lip, or against thelip of the bottom panel with a sheet of transfer material interposedtherebetween.

The right-hand lever and the left-hand lever of the gripper bar whenactuated by the cams are pivoted around the pivot pins 88 to force thegripper bars toward the front of the gripper bar housing against thetension of spring 92, a pair of stops 93 being positioned to limit thefor- 6 ward travel of the gripper bars. To prevent binding of thegripper bars against the pivot pins, each of the gripper bars is formedwith a suitable notch 95 to permit the gripper bar to slide relative tothe gripper pins.

As a sheet of paper or transfer material is fed into the Xerographicmachine at station 16, the front leading edge must be positioned ingripper mechanism 15 between the gripper bars 74 and 75 and the rear lipof bottom panel 76.

As seen in FIGS. 3, 9 and 10, there is a sheet guide assembly 63fastened to the frame of the xerographic machine at feed-in station ,16and positioned above the stop position of gripper mechanism 15.

The paper guide plate 64 is a flat plate shaped in the form of a V andextending across an opening in frame 1 at feed-in station 16. The leg ofthe V-shaped guide plate Closest to feed-in station 16 extends fromabove the topof counter 9 downward to a point immediately above the topof the gripper mechanism 15. As a sheet of material is pushed across thetop of counter 9, it encounters guide plate 64 and is directed downwardinto gripper mechanism 15. The other leg of the V-shaped guide plate isattached to brackets 66 by means of pivot pins 67. Brackets 66 arefastened to either the bottom of counter 9, as shown in FIG. 9, or toany frame member, as shown in FIG. 10, and supports the entire guideplate assembly. A positioning rod 68 connects guide locators 65 servingthe duel purpose of keeping the guide locators rigid and properlyaligned, and also serves as a counterweight to pivot the guide locators65 around pins 67.

The guide locators 65 have downwardly extending arms 69 in interferencerelationship'with the path of travel of the gripper mechanism. The arms69 are located at the rear of the guide locators 65 .and are spaced fromthe front of the locators so that the guide plate 65 will be directlyover theopening in the gripper mechanism when the gripper mechanism isin contact with the arms 69.

As the gripper mechanism 15 approaches its normal stop position, theleading edge strikes arms 69 of guide locators 65. At this point, theouter sloping surface of guide plate 64 is in line with the slot in thetop of the gripper mechanism. As the gripper mechanism travels on to thepoint where it finally comes to rest, the guide locators carrying theguide plate rotates about pivot pins 67, keeping the sloping surface ofthe guide plate aligned with the slot opening in the top of the grippermechanism.

The machine operator slides a sheet of paper or sup port material alongthe top of counter 9 until it strikes guide plate 64 at which point thepaper is deflected downward along guide plate 64 into the slot in thegripper mechanism. The operator continues to slide the paper forwarduntil a slight buckle in the paper occurs, thus insuring proper seatingof the paper in the gripper mechanism. As the paper slides into thegripper mechanism, it trips'switch 5LS, which, after a time delay of twoseconds, initiates operation of the conveyor system. The two-second timedelay permits the operator to adjust and position the paper, ifnecessary.

As the conveyor system starts moving, the chains 14 carry grippermechanism 15 way from feed-in station 16. The actuating earns 25 releasearms 86 and 87 allowing spring 92 to move the gripper bars 74 and 75toward the upwardly turned lip 85 of bottom plate 76. Gripper bars 75and 76 catch the sheet of paper and carry it forward away from theoperator. As the gripper mechanism moves forward it pivots the guidelocators 65 around pivot pins 67 permitting free passage of the grippermechanism. The positioning rod 68 swings the guide locators 65 and guideplate 64 downward into position to contact the next gripper mechanismfor the next machine cycle.

Although the invention is described as used with a conveyer system of anautomatic xerographic reproduction machine, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in this or related arts, that it may readily be applied to anysystem in which it is required to handle sheets of material by means ofa conveyor system. Therefore, since changes could be made in the aboveconstruction, and different 7 terpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet material conveyor system containing a sheet grippermechanism,

means for guiding individual sheets into the gripper mechanism includinga guide plate having a surface transverse to the path of movement ofsheet material as it is inserted into the gripper mechanism,

and a positioning arm attached to said guide plate and extending intointerference relationship with the path of movement of said grippermechanism,

said guide plate and said am being pivotally mounted so that wheneversaid arm is in contact with the gripper mechanism the guide plate isimmediately above the gripper mechanism and a plane containing thesurface of the guide plate extends tranversely through the length of thegripper mechanism, Whereby sheet material inserted into the conveyorsystem will be deflected into the gripper mechanism.

2. In a sheetvmaterial conveyor system including a sheet grippermechanism containing a fiat bar with an opening-therein capable ofreceiving sheet material, and means to retain said material,

sheet feed guide'means consisting of a flat guide plate the surface ofwhich lies in a plane I parallel to the length of said gripper mechanismand in interference relationship to the movement of a sheet of materialinserted into said conveyor system,

said plate being pivotally mounted at one end above the path of movementof said gripper mechanism and containing an arm extending intointerference relationship with the path of movement of said grippermechanism,

. said guide plate surface and said arm being spacedin relative positionsuch that whenever said gripper mechanism is in contact with said armthe plane of said guide plate surface passes through said opening in thegripper mechanism.

3. In a sheet material conveyor system containing a sheet grippermechanism and means to stop said gripper mechanism in a predeterminedrange of positions, said gripper mechanism including a relatively flatbar member with an opening adapted to receive sheet material and meansto grasp said sheet material when inserted in said opening,

the combination of means for guiding individual sheets into the openingin said gripper mechanism consisting of a guide plate containing a flatsurface extending parallel to the length of said gripper mechanism andlocated in interference relationship to the path of travel of theleading edge of sheet material as it is fed into the conveyor system,

said guideplate being pivotally mounted above the path of movement ofsaid gripper mechanism so that a plane containing the flat surface ofsaid guide plate passes through the predetermined range of stoppingpositions of said gripper mechanism,

and a'positioning member attached at one end to said guide plate andlocated in interference relationship with the path of movement of saidgripper mechanism, Y the other end of said positioningmember beingspaced from the end of said guide plate a distance such that when thepositioning member is in contact with the leading edge of the grippermechanism the edge of the guide plate is positioned in line with theopening in the gripper mechanism, whereby sheet material inserted intothe conveyor system is deflected downward by the flat surface of theguide plate and into the opening inthe gripper mechanism.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,721,085 7/29Novick 27073 2,097,772 11/37 Novick 27179 X SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, ActingPrimary Examiner.

ROBERT A. LEIGHEY, WILLIAM B. LA BORDE,

Examiners.

1. IN A SHEET MATERIAL CONVEYOR SYSTEM CONTAINING A SHEET GRIPPERMECHANISM, MEANS FOR GUIDING INDIVIDUAL SHEETS INTO THE GRIPPERMECHANISM INCLUDING A GUIDE PLATE HAVING A SURFACE TRANSVERSE TO THEPATH OF MOVEMENT OF SHEET MATERIAL AS IT IS INSERTED INTO THE GRIPPERMECHANISM, AND A POSITIONING ARM ATTACHED TO SAID GUIDE PLATE ANDEXTENDING INTO INTERFERENCE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OFSAID GRIPPER MECHANISM, SAID GUIDE PLATE AND SAID ARM BEING PIVOTALLYMOUNTED SO THAT WHENEVER SAID ARM IS IN CONTACT WITH THE GRIPPERMECHANISM THE GUIDE PLATE IS IMMEDIATELY ABOVE THE GRIPPER MECHANISM ANDA PLATE CONTAINING THE SURFACE OF THE GUIDE PLATE EXTENDS TRANSVERSELYTHROUGH THE LENGTH OF THE GRIPPER MECHANISM, WHEREBY SHEET MATERIALINSERTED INTO THE CONVEYOR SYSTEM WILL BE DEFLECTED INTO THE GRIPPERMECHANISM.